SEQUIM — The first donation is in and plans are up for Shipley Center’s planned Health & Wellness Annex.
First Federal Community Foundation representatives and First Federal staff presented $100,000 to Shipley Center’s staff and board on Oct. 22, kicking off the $1.5 million project fundraising campaign.
Shipley Center executive director Michael Smith thanked First Federal for the donation and said the $1.5 million project “will add much needed capacity for seniors to enhance their physical health through exercise classes and healthy food preparation classes.”
First Federal Community Foundation’s donation will go toward the First Federal Demonstration Kitchen, a classroom for health education, indoor and outdoor cooking demonstrations and social events to benefit seniors and the community, Smith said.
The approximately 6,400-square-foot annex will be built across the parking lot from the center at 921 E. Hammond St., on property purchased with funds from the R. Leo Shipley Estate.
Smith has said it will feature space for exercise classes, a fitness room, sports courts, multiple tables for ping pong and more.
Shipley Center leaders estimate the current facility hosts more than 1,700 active members participating in a range of events.
The annex will be available to the public for bazaars, catering events, fundraisers, lectures and more, Smith said, and it features “green” and energy-efficient specially paneled walls and skylights.
Design and support
Shipley Center’s annex design was completed by architect Karla Forsbeck of Dungeness Design.
She forwarded her designs to Browne Wheeler of Bainbridge Island on a $33,000 contract to complete the center’s civil engineering, and Pacific Northwest Structural of Kingston on a $6,800 contract for structural engineering.
Shipley Center Karla Forsbeck of Dungeness Design recently submitted plans to engineers for Shipley Center’s Health & Wellness Annex proposed for the site across the street from the existing facility.
Smith said center staff and board members continue to seek grants for the project. Donations are welcome by mail to Shipley Center, P.O. Box 1827, Sequim, WA 98382, or by calling 360-683-6806.
For more information about the center, email info@shipleycenter.org or visit www.shipleycenter.org.
Shipley Center membership costs $55 per person per year or $95 for two people living in the same house.
For more information on the First Federal Community Foundation, visit www.firstfedcf.org, call 360-417-3112 or email applications@firstfedcf.org.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
Shipley Center Karla Forsbeck of Dungeness Design recently submitted plans to engineers for Shipley Center’s Health & Wellness Annex proposed for the site across the street from the existing facility.
